PALEMBANG - South Sumatra Police are investigating the online prostitution business, which often operates to occupy hotel and inn rooms spread across Palembang City.
Dirreskrimum Polda Sumsel Kombes Anwar Reksowidjojo said the investigation was carried out in response to the number of public complaints received through the police assistance number 0813-70002-110 recently.
In the report, the public admits that they often find the activities of teenage boys and girls aged in and out of the hotel area almost every night indicated by prostitutes.
Suspicious activities are easily found by the public because hotels and inns in Palembang are notabene located near settlements.
"So starting from a community report in the Police Hotline, we have conducted an investigation into a number of places where it is suspected that the prostitution business is targeting teenagers," he told reporters in Palembang, Antara, Monday, November 21.
Anwar stated that one of the hotels reported by the public was indicated as a place for the prostitution business, which is located on Jalan Kol H Burlian, Kebun Bunga, Palembang.
The indication was later found to be true after personnel from Sub-Directorate IV for the Protection of Women and Children (PPA) of the General Criminal Investigation Directorate of the South Sumatra Police conducted a search, on Sunday night at around 21.00 WIB.
The police arrested as many as 20 suspected prostitutes, including the hotel entrepreneur, to the South Sumatra Police Headquarters to undergo further investigation.
“ Yes, there are 20 people arrested in hotels affiliated with OYO. All are still undergoing examinations on Monday, November 21, 2022. Of the alleged perpetrators, among them are underage women, hotel brokers and entrepreneurs,” he said.
Anwar ensured that the search operation to hotels and inns would continue, including five-star hotels as reported by residents, this was carried out as an effort to free the city of Palembang from community disease.
Meanwhile, Head of Sub-Directorate IV of PPA of the Directorate of General Criminal Investigation of the South Sumatra Police, Kompol Tri Wahyudi, said that based on the results of the investigation, two of the 20 people who were detained served as brokers or individuals who offered underage girls to mashers through the Michat application.
The two perpetrators are men with the initials HN (17) and MR (19) years old residents of Palembang city.
They were arrested along with evidence of male contraceptives, two units of Samsung J7 prime and Samsung A02 brand phones, and several pieces of money from prostitution services of Rp50 thousand denominations and one foreign currency in the form of 1 Ringgit Malaysia.
To investigators, HN and MR perpetrators admitted that every customer who wants to order a dating service is charged a tariff of IDR 150-400 thousand with a duration of 15 minutes.
“ The order was made in the Michat application, the customer asked for a photo of the woman, after agreeing to determine the place at the hotel. The rest are still in the examination stage because they were only arrested yesterday,” he said.
For his actions, the perpetrator is suspected of violating the ITE Law Article 45 paragraph 1 Juncto Law Number 19 of 2016 with a maximum imprisonment of six years or a fine of Rp. 1 billion.
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